Pulling off a heist is a delicate business, since part of any successful getaway is making sure no one even knows a crime has been committed. All the planning in the world can’t account for unexpected factors, but creating a major distraction to keep law enforcement busy is a pretty solid setup. Fuze ups the ante with a bomb squad heading in to tackle an old WWII device found on a construction site, clearing the way for a group of thieves to tunnel into a bank vault while the power to the entire area is out. If that premise sounds intense and enticing, this film doesn’t stop there and keeps the twists going until the very end.
The bomb is spotted in the film’s opening minutes and Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is dispatched to the scene while Chief Superintendent Zuzana (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) supervises an evacuation of the potential explosion radius. A crew led by Karalis (Theo James) and X (Sam Worthington) gets to work on breaching the wall of the bank, monitoring the street to make sure that they aren’t being surveilled. As Will deals with unexpected behavior by the bomb and a ticking timer, Zuzana notices activity on her grid that makes her suspicious enough to send a squad car to the location where Karalis and X are, concerned that they may have unwittingly left civilians in harm’s way.
This film marks the second consecutive urban thriller to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival from director David Mackenzie. While it’s not as creative in its structure as Relay, it does share and even outdo its pacing, giving audiences precious few moments to breathe easy. Its best success is keeping the suspense going even when audiences should know that there’s no reason to be on edge, but the cinematography, editing, and tight direction all combine to deliver an immersive and inescapable thriller that should suck in even the most reluctant and unconvinced viewer. And even if some do see the twists in Ben Hopkins’ sharp script coming, the path to getting there is still fully engaging.
Mackenzie introduced the film’s premiere by noting that there’s no underlying message to be found and that it’s meant to be pure entertainment. Though the story is carefully-plotted and quite layered, it’s the action and pacing that really makes it work. There’s little exposition and plenty of questions that come up throughout, inviting those watching on a nonstop ride with enough surprises that even the smartest among them might still miss one or two. As he did with New York City in Relay, Mackenzie makes excellent use of London as his newest playground, presenting the streets as both completely deserted and then crowded yet ready to take its characters wherever they need to go, provided they don’t make a wrong turn.
Each role is well-cast, starting with Taylor-Johnson as someone who takes his job very seriously but clearly has an ego that makes him a difficult coworker, hardly the best quality for a high-pressure situation. Mbatha-Raw doesn’t have as much to do as in other roles, but she delivers solidly regardless. Worthington returns from Relay as another no-nonsense operative intent on fulfilling his assigned task, and James brings just enough frantic energy to the man who’s supposed to be in charge of everything. The way in which the film ends makes it clear that it’s all about having fun, with logic not the most important thing and a substantially entertaining cinematic experience the true goal. To that aim, this film delivers spectacularly, and though audiences may finally be able to breathe again once the credits do roll, they’ll also likely find themselves unexpectedly satisfied with this film’s closing cleverness.
Movie Rating: 8/10
